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“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love.

If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion… love actually is all around”.

Some of the most rewarding conversations I’ve had about faith have happened when people discovered that the GOD they don’t believe in, is the same GOD that I don’t believe in either! Continue reading →

A reflection offered at Hobart North UCA for the third Sunday in Advent

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That phrase intrigues me: “Keeping it real”.

Often said as “Yeah, just keepin’ it real, bro”, or similar.

Sometimes it’s said by sportspeople & commentators and comes out something like “we’re concentrating on keeping it real for the boys” (It usually comes somewhere between “full credit to the boys” and “we’re just taking it one game at a time”!)

Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to read a book. A whole book, in one go! Well, nearly one go. It took a couple of days, firmly esconsed in the incredibly beautiful State Library of Victoria. I had spent time with colleagues in retreat, hearing stories of “Weaving Connections”, and of the year that’s passed since we shared our faith adventure in England. Now it was time for me to be by myself for a bit.

The book itself turned out to be ok but not all that special. Called Ministry as an Art: Exploring Voluntary and Professional Church Leadership (by Clair Woodbury and Clark Saunders), it didn’t have too much that was new to me. I knew this as I started to read.
What it offered, though, was an invitation to read, to think, and to draw together a whole heap of things that have been going around my head for a long time, as I do ministry at Hobart North and within the central Hobart UCA. This was more important than the content of the book itself.

I had been aware for a while that I didn’t need more content, more stuff to process. What I needed was time, and the discipline, to just ‘be’ for a while, to sit with the many “G.O.D. stories” that are part of my/our life and ministry, to remember that life and ministry isn’t all about what I do. This last year or so has been very busy, and I had lost the ability to practice what I preach about seeing the holy Spirit at work among us, about creative and missional imagination, about giving my soul space to sing!

In that bustling, people-filled, and yet peaceful library, as impressive a ‘cathedral’ as any church building, I read a book. I watched the people all around me, some studying for exams, some avoiding study, some people reading for pleasure, some there just to look around.

I read, thought, dreamed, planned, got excited, and dozed once or twice!
And my soul began to be restored…

As I wrote this I had to resist the urge to draw out a ‘moral’ or point to the story, then remembered that the story IS the point of the story!
The End (not)

It sounds like some kind of demarcation dispute, doesn’t it? Like the ones we used to hear about, where someone did something that was someone else’s job… next thing you know, everyone was on strike!

John says to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us”. His inference is that because this ‘someone’ person isn’t one of them, he’s not playing the game. Honestly, that ‘someone’: what a troublemaker!

Healing in Jesus’ name, for John, is the job of Jesus and his disciples, and no one else. He’s unimpressed, and expects Jesus to be as well, after all Jesus’ reputation is at stake here… I think we can safely say that he expects a very different answer from the one Jesus gives him! Continue reading →

Yesterday I joined with a whole heap of others at an ANZAC Day celebration. We were at the gathering at Glenorchy, one of the cities that makes up greater Hobart. It was a good sized mob there and I quite enjoyed the service, apart from, sadly, the ‘religious’ bits. Continue reading →

John Lennon’s “Imagine” has always been one of my favourite songs, even back in the days when I felt a wee bit guilty singing along with the line “…and no religion too”. That worries me a lot less than it once did. The imagery and optimism of the song made it one that I just really liked. Lennon was my favourite Beatle, but I was never under any illusion that he was some kind of saint. He was a man with all of the usual human foibles and demons, and perhaps a few extras, but I liked that he dared to imagine a better world and a better way to live. Continue reading →